Incident
by rittenden
Summary: Robin comes to Don's rescue. Oneshot. Originally posted at the Numb3rs Fanrush site. I honestly don't remember the reason for this one... although it was supposed to feature a clinic and spaghetti...


"Who was that?" Robin asked.

Don glanced over to where she was sitting in the passenger seat of his SUV as he clipped his cell phone back in its holder on his belt. "My dad," he replied.

Megan leaned between the two front seats. "What's up?"

Looking at her in the rearview mirror, he answered, "Larry went overboard on the mozzarella – Dad asked that we stop on the way to get some more."

"Who ever heard of pizza as a celebratory dinner?" David muttered from Megan's left. "I thought it was supposed to be something like steak."

"Nah," Don said easily, turning the vehicle in to a neighborhood market parking lot. "We get steak a lot. Pizza was what Charlie asked for, and pizza is what he's going to get."

"Braggart," Colby countered with a grin.

Don unclipped his seatbelt as he brought the SUV to a halt by the front doors. "What can I say?" he laughed. "There's a million perks to being one of the famous Eppes family."

"Infamous, you mean," Robin put in. "Stay put. I'll get it." She moved to open her door.

"Low fat, please!" Megan called as she leaned back between Colby and David. Robin nodded to show she'd heard as she headed through the double doors, stepping briefly to one side to allow a group of youths in first.

Colby leaned forward. "So tell us again what this award is for?" he asked.

Don shrugged. "I dunno," he replied. "Charlie won some kind of prestigious math award from CalSci last night, and this is his way of celebrating."

Megan snorted. "It was the Tepper Haimo award," she said.

"Whatever." Don glanced at his watch. "Come on, Robin," he murmured. "We're gonna be late."

"I think it's pretty cool that your dad invited all of us," David said.

Don nodded. "Well, Larry and Amita are already there, and Dad knows how much you enjoy his cooking…" He ducked as David aimed a slap at the back of his head.

Colby turned to Megan. "So what's this 'Tepper Haimo' award for, anyway?"

"It's the country's biggest award for math teachers in colleges and universities," she explained. "It's from the Mathematical Association of America."

"And he wanted _pizza?"_ David asked incredulously.

Don nodded silently as he stared at the store windows. After a moment, he opened his door and began to climb out.

"Where are you going?" Colby asked.

He paused. "Robin's been in there too long for a block of mozzarella," he replied. "I'm going to go see what's up."

They watched as his figure entered the comparative darkness of the store. After a moment of silence, David asked no one in particular, "You know Alan's gonna have his hide for being late, don't you?"

Colby and Megan both began to nod when the sound of a cell phone ringing startled them. They each checked their phones and Megan said, "It's mine." She flipped it open. "Reeves."

The others watched her expression change from concern to business. "Right," she said finally, snapping the phone shut and replacing it at her waist. She turned to Colby. "Out," she commanded. "You too, David," she added.

They all got out and Megan pulled out her gun. "What's going on?" David asked. The other two agents mirrored her actions.

"That was Don," she said shortly. "Apparently there's a robbery going down inside."

David and Colby both became all business. "You're taking the front?" David asked her.

"I'll take the back," Colby put in.

Megan nodded. "I'll wait for five seconds, and then I'm making entry," she said.

They both nodded and hurried around the side of the building. Megan began counting under her breath. She'd reached 'four' when she heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots.

"Damn!" Throwing caution to the wind, the agent burst through the front door of the store. "FBI! Freeze!" she shouted, aiming her weapon at the nearest standing figure. It was one of the young men they'd seen go in just before Robin.

From the back of the store, she heard echoing shouts of "FBI!" as David and Colby made entrance. The man in front of Megan turned toward her and she stepped closer, aiming her gun at his left eye. "Don't make your second mistake," she warned.

The whole incident was over within a few minutes. Colby called the LAPD for reinforcements and Megan walked over to where Robin was standing with Don. "How are you two holding up?" she asked.

Robin fixed her with a concerned gaze. "Don's been hit," she said simply.

"What?" Megan stepped toward her boss. "Where?" she asked.

Don shook his head. "It's just a scratch," he replied, showing her a bloody graze on his upper arm. "I don't think it'll even leave a mark."

The other agent looked at the wound carefully. "You're probably right," she agreed. "But I don't want to be there when your father finds out."

"Finds out what?" Colby and David rounded the end of the aisle. "What happened… oh." Colby broke off as he saw Don's injury. "Me neither," he finished.

"Look," Don said, his tone betraying his exasperation. "If none of you say anything, he won't find out. It's not even bad enough to warrant a Band-Aid."

Robin looked at him doubtfully. "Are you sure?" she asked. "What about your shirt?"

"I've got another in my truck," he answered. "I can change it."

She grinned slyly. "Can I watch?"

His reply was pre-empted by the arrival of an LAPD officer. "Excuse me," he cut in. "I need to get your statements."

"We've given ours," David replied and Colby nodded. Megan offered, "I don't have much to add to what they would have told you. Don…" She indicated her boss. "…Called me from inside and we got ready to enter. I heard gunfire and came inside in time to find those guys waving guns around."

The officer turned to Don. "So you came in first?" When the other man nodded he asked, "What happened?"

Don explained how he'd walked into the store to see what was keeping Robin and witnessed the four youths gathered together near the back of the store, each of them pulling what appeared to be guns from a backpack one of them had been carrying. The group then split up, one of them heading back to the deli counter where Robin and another patron were standing. "I went over there to head him off," the agent explained. "And he turned and fired at me. I returned fire…"

"Did you hit him?" the officer asked, furiously writing notes in a small book.

Giving the man a tired look, Don replied, "If I'd been aiming for him, I would have hit him. Are any of them bleeding?" The police officer shook his head. "Anyway," Don continued. "After that my team came in. You have the details on that."

The other man nodded. "I do," he agreed. "I'm going to need you all to sign the statements once they're typed up."

"Tomorrow," Don said with a sigh as his cell phone began to ring. He glanced at the display. "Right now I have to be somewhere," he added as he flipped the phone open. "Hey Dad…"

"That was a great meal, Mr. Eppes," Colby said as he leaned back from the table with a satisfied sigh.

David nodded and leaned toward his teammate. "Didn't I tell you so?" he asked in an undertone.

Colby shrugged. "I never said I didn't believe you," he replied. "I just said I wanted to try it myself."

Alan laughed. "You two should know by now that you're welcome here anytime," he said. "You don't have to wait for a special occasion."

"Speaking of which," Megan cut in, smiling at Charlie. "Congratulations again on your award, Professor."

The FBI agents all began chanting "Speech! Speech!" and Charlie rose from his seat, holding his hands up in a submissive gesture. "I want to thank you all for coming," he began.

"Some of us later than others," Alan cut in.

Don sighed. "Dad…"

"I know, I know," the older man said. "Something came up. I got it."

Charlie continued his monologue as though the other two hadn't spoken. "And I want to thank my friends, Larry and Amita, for preparing this excellent food…"

Alan's head came up suddenly and he looked toward the living room. "What's that?" he asked rising from his seat.

"What's what?" Megan echoed. They all watched as the older man headed toward the television set, which had been left on during the meal. Alan picked up the remote and adjusted the volume. "…if not for the efforts of a few members of the FBI. Minor injuries were reported, but all suspects have been apprehended…" Alan turned from the late news cast with a look of fury on his face. "Something came up?" he asked in a deadly tone.

Don stammered, "Well…. Th-that's something, isn't it?"

Charlie looked plaintively at Robin, sitting on Don's right. Taking her cue, the prosecutor cut in, "If it wasn't for his intervention, Mr. Eppes, I'm sure things would have gone a lot worse than they did." She looked to the other agents for support.

"Absolutely," David added. "They'd already started shooting by the time Colby and I…"

Megan silenced him with a look. "The fact is," she soothed. "If Don hadn't gone inside, those men may have harmed someone."

Alan gestured at the screen with his remote. "'Minor injuries', they said!" he protested. "I'd call that harming someone!"

"Well actually…" Larry spoke for the first time. "Harm and injury may not necessarily…" Amita stopped him with a hand on his arm. The physicist fell silent as he looked at Don in sympathy.

"Dad…" Don began.

The older man cut him off. "Who got hurt?" he demanded. Don's face remained blank. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"It was me," Robin replied calmly. Alan stared at her, wide-eyed. "It was nothing, really," she went on. "When Don… stopped the man that was coming toward us, the suspect's gun went off and I jumped." She shrugged. "I banged my elbow. Nothing serious. Would you like to see?" She began rolling up her sleeve.

Alan waved her off. "No, no – that's alright Robin. Never mind." He switched off the television and headed back to the table. "I just wish Don would come clean once in a while." He sat in his chair and gave his eldest son a reproachful look. "It couldn't hurt, you know," he added. Looking up at Charlie, he said, "I'm sorry, Son. Go on with what you were saying."

"Yes," Megan said brightly. "Tell us what the award ceremony was like, Charlie." The mathematician began relating the previous night's events animatedly.

Don slowly turned his head to Robin and mouthed, "Thanks."

She smiled and winked in return.


End file.
